Systems and methods for data transfer over a shared interface

ABSTRACT

A method for compressing is provided. The method includes compressing, via a processor, a portion of a first data packet to generate a second data packet having a compressed portion. The method includes transmitting the second data packet having the compressed portion via an interface to a co-processor. The processor and the co-processor are communicatively coupled via the interface. The method also includes unpacking, via the co-processor, the compressed portion of the second data packet to restore the first data packet.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/282,020 filed on Sep. 30, 2016, which is incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates generally to integrated circuits. Morespecifically, the present disclosure relates to improving an efficiencyof data transfer over an interface.

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects ofart that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure,which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed tobe helpful in providing the reader with background information tofacilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the presentdisclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statementsare to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.

Certain network architectures involve a processor that accesses thefunctionality of a co-processor via a shared interface. For example, incertain situations, a processor may run one or more virtual machines(VMs), and the processor running the virtual machines may interface witha co-processor, such as acceleration circuitry. As a further example, incertain situations, the processor may run in a hypervisor mode or mayrun one or more containers, and may interface with a co-processor foradded functionality. Further still, in certain embodiments, theprocessor may be a single operating system (e.g., desktop computer) thataccesses the functionality of a co-processor via a shared interface.However, in certain situations, the shared interface may have limitedbandwidth, and may not be equipped to cope with the traffic. However,increasing the bandwidth of the shared interface may involve replacingphysical components within the system.

SUMMARY

A summary of certain embodiments disclosed herein is set forth below. Itshould be understood that these aspects are presented merely to providethe reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and thatthese aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure.Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may notbe set forth below.

Present embodiments relate to systems and methods for improving anefficiency of data transfer across a shared interface between aprocessor and a co-processor. In certain embodiments, the processor mayrun a plurality of software (SW) and may access a co-processor via theshared interface. In particular, embodiments of the present disclosurerelate to improving the efficiency of data transfer across the sharednetwork by compressing data, via each of the plurality of SW running onthe processor, prior to transmitting it across the shared interface tothe co-processor. For example, in certain embodiments of the presentdisclosure, the SWs may compress a portion of the data packet (e.g.,header, data payload, or both) prior to transmitting the compressed datapacket across the shared interface to the co-processor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Advantages of the disclosure may become apparent upon reading thefollowing detailed description and upon reference to the drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a system that includes aprocessor running a plurality of software (SWs), a co-processor, and ashared interface, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a data packet utilizedwithin the system of FIG. 1 to transmit information across the sharedinterface, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a data flow diagram illustrating data flows within the systemof FIG. 1, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the data flows of FIG. 3,in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a data flow diagram illustrating data flows within the systemof FIG. 1, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the data flows of FIG. 5,in accordance with an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

One or more specific embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed below. In an effort to provide a concise description of theseembodiments, not all features of an actual implementation are describedin the specification. It should be appreciated that in the developmentof any such actual implementation, as in any engineering or designproject, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made toachieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance withsystem-related and business-related constraints, which may vary from oneimplementation to another. Moreover, it should be appreciated that sucha development effort might be complex and time consuming, but wouldnevertheless be a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, andmanufacture for those of ordinary skill having the benefit of thisdisclosure.

As discussed in further detail below, embodiments of the presentdisclosure generally relate to efficiently transferring data between aprocessor and a co-processor across a shared interface. Specifically,the processor may run a plurality of software (SW) that accesses thefunctionality of the co-processor via the shared interface. Likewise, incertain situations, the co-processor may access the functionality of theprocessor via the shared interface. As an example, in certainembodiments, the processor may run a plurality of virtual machines(VMs), and the co-processor may include a hardware (HW) accelerator. Incertain embodiments, the processor may run in a hypervisor mode, and mayaccess the co-processor via the shared interface. Further, in certainembodiments, the processor may run a plurality of containers, and mayaccess the co-processor via the shared interface. Further, in certainembodiments, the processor may operate as a single operating system andmay access a co-processor, such as a separate operating system, via ashared interface. Indeed, the disclosed embodiments may relate to theseand other situations where a processor accesses the functionality of aco-processor via a shared interface.

In certain embodiments, the processor may run a plurality of SW, whichmay access the functionality of a co-processor via the shared interface.Specifically, as noted above, the shared interface between the each ofthe one or more SW and the co-processor may include a limited bandwidth.Accordingly, while each individual SW may not generate enough traffic tocongest the shared interface, multiple SW running the processor mayaccumulate to generate a significant amount of traffic that theinterface may not be equipped to handle. Indeed, in certain situations,the interface may create a bottleneck that may prevent the co-processorfrom being fully utilized by the processor. However, increasing thebandwidth of the interface may involve replacing existing circuitry orphysical components, which may be costly. Accordingly, it may bebeneficial to provide for systems and methods for efficientlytransferring data across the shared interface, such as between the oneor more processors and co-processors.

Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to improvingan efficiency of data transfer across a shared interface, between one ormore processors and one or more co-processors. In particular,embodiments of the present disclosure relate to improving the efficiencyof data transfer across the shared network by compressing data prior totransmitting it across the shared interface. For example, in certainembodiments of the present disclosure, each SW running on the processormay compress a portion of the data packet (e.g., header) prior totransmitting the compressed data packet across the shared interface tothe co-processor. As a further example, in certain embodiments of thepresent disclosure, the SW may compress the entire data packet prior totransmitting the compressed data packet across the shared interface tothe co-processor. Once the co-processor receives the compressed datapacket, the co-processor may unpack the compressed data prior toutilizing it in the intended manner.

It should be noted that in certain embodiments, the data may flow fromthe co-processor to each of the SWs, and the co-processor may compressthe data packet (e.g., a portion of the data packet or the whole datapacket), prior to transmitting the data packet across the sharedinterface to the SWs. In this manner, embodiments of the presentdisclosure may efficiently transfer data across the limited bandwidth ofthe shared interface, without increasing the bandwidth of the sharedinterface or adding additional circuitry.

With the forgoing in mind, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment ofa system 10 that includes a processor 11 running a plurality of software(SWs) 12, a co-processor 20, and a shared interface 16 between theprocessor 11 and the co-processor 20, in accordance with aspects of thepresent disclosure. In certain embodiments, the processor 11 may run aplurality of virtual machines (VMs), a plurality of containers, or mayoperator as a single operating system. In certain embodiments, theprocessor 11 may run in a hypervisor mode. In particular, in certainembodiments, each of the one or more SW 12 may push data across theshared interface 16 to the co-processor 20. However, the bandwidth ofthe combined or accumulated information that the SWs 12 attempt totransmit over the shared interface 16 may exceed the bandwidth capacityof the shared interface 16. Indeed, while the co-processor 20 maysupport and receive the combined or accumulated information transmittedby the SWs 12, the shared interface 16 may have bandwidth constraintsthat create an information bottleneck and that reduce efficiency.

Accordingly, the disclosed embodiments are related to utilizing datacompression techniques to minimize the amount of data transmitted byeach SW 12 across the shared interface 16, thereby minimizing the totalamount of accumulated traffic transmitted over the shared interface 16.Further, once the co-processor 20 receives the compressed data via theshared interface 16, the co-processor 20 may unpack the compressed data.It should be noted that in certain embodiments, the co-processor 20 maycompress the data prior to transmitting it across the shared interface16 to the one or more SWs 12.

In certain embodiments, a processor 11 (e.g., processor circuitry ormultiple processor circuits operating together) may run a plurality ofSWs 12. For example, each SW 12 (e.g., a first SW 12A, a second SW 12B,a third SW 12C, and a fourth SW 12D) of the processor 11 may emulate acomputer system, and may access the functionality of and/or transmitinformation to the co-processor 20 via the shared interface 16. Indeed,the components of the system 10 may allow for a physical device toappear as multiple devices for use in multiple virtual machines. Incertain embodiments, data transmitted via the shared interface 16 may betransmitted through process I/O logic 13 within the processor 11 andthrough corresponding processor I/O logic 13 within the co-processor 20(e.g., accelerator circuitry, co-processor, etc.). In certainembodiments, the shared interface 16 may be a Peripheral ComponentInterconnect Express (PCIe) interface that may be used to send andreceive data between the SWs 12 and the co-processor 20. In certainembodiments, the shared interface 16 may be a Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (PCI), an advanced microcontroller bus architecture (AMBA),any type of shared system bus, or any other type of network interfacethat may allow for data communications between the SWs 12 and theco-processor 20.

In certain embodiments, each SW 12 may receive and/or generate aplurality of data packets 14. Each data packet 14 may includeinformation associated with video, audio, text, images, or any type ofinformation that may be desired, as further described with respect toFIG. 2. In particular, each SW 12 may compress the data packet 14 beforetransmitting the compressed data packet across the shared interface 16.For example, in certain embodiments, each SW 12 may compress a portionof the data packet 14, such as a header of the data packet 14, beforetransmitting the compressed data packet 14 across the shared interface16 to the co-processor 20, as further described with respect to FIGS. 3and 4. As a further example, in certain embodiments, each SW 12 maycompress the entire data packet 14 and/or a data payload of the datapacket 14, before transmitting the compressed data packet 14 across theshared interface 16 to the co-processor 12, as further described withrespect to FIGS. 5 and 6. It should be noted that in certainembodiments, the co-processor 20 may compress the data packet 14 (e.g.,entire data packet 14 or a portion of the data packet 14) beforetransmitting the data packet 14 across the shared interface 16 to theone or more SWs 12.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the data packet 14utilized within the system 10 of FIG. 1. In particular, the format ofthe data packet 14 may include a start framing symbol 50 (having alength 52 of approximately 1 Byte), a sequence ID 54 (having a length 54of approximately 1 Byte), a header 58 (having a length 60 ofapproximately 3-4 dwords (DW)), a data payload 64 (having a length 66 ofapproximately 0-1024 DW), an end-to-end CRC (ECRC) 66 (having a length68 of approximately 1 DW), a link cyclic redundancy check (LCRC) 70(having a length 72 of approximately 1 DW), and an end framing symbol 74(having a length 76 of approximately 1 Byte). In certain situations, one(1) dword is equivalent to 4 Bytes.

In certain embodiments, the user logic interfaces to the transactionlayer to create the transaction layer packets 80, which contain theheader 58, the data payload 62, and the ECRC 66. In embodiments wherethe ECRC 66 is generated, the ECRC 66 may be generated by user logic atthe transmitter (e.g., the SWs 12) and checked by the user logic at thereceiver (e.g., the co-processor 20). The data link layer 82 may beresponsible for link management and error detection. Accordingly, thedata link layer 82 may append the LCRC 70 and prepend the sequence ID 54to the transaction layer packets 80. The physical layer 84 may appendthe start framing symbol 50 and prepend the end framing symbol 74 to thedata link layer 82.

In certain embodiments, the SWs 12 may compress one or more of thetransaction layer packets 80 to generate a compressed data packet thatmay be transmitted across the shared interface 16. For example, incertain embodiments, the SWs 12 may compress the header 58, as furtherdescribed with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4. As a further example, incertain embodiments, the SWs 12 may compress the header 58 and/or thedata payload 62, as further described with respect to FIGS. 5 and 6.

FIG. 3 is a data flow diagram 100 illustrating data flows within thesystem 10, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.Specifically, in certain embodiments, the data flow diagram 100 includesa data packet 14 generated by and/or provided to the SW 12. In certainembodiments, the SW 12 may compress the header 58 of the data packet 14,via one or more header compression techniques, as further describedbelow. The SW 12 generates a data packet with compressed header 102.Further, the SW 12 may transmit the data packet 14 with the compressedheader 102 to the co-processor 20 via the shared interface 16. It shouldbe noted that in the illustrated embodiment, the data packet with thecompressed header 102 includes the original data payload 62. Inparticular, each of the one or more SWs 12 may compress the header 58 ofeach data packet 14 prior to transmitting the data packet 14 across theshared interface 16, thereby improving the efficiency of data transferover the shared interface 16. In certain embodiments, the co-processor20 receives the data packet with compressed header 102 and unpacks it togenerate and/or restore the original data packet 14.

In certain embodiments, the SW 12 may compress the header 58 utilizingone or more different header compression techniques that may be used tocompress networking headers of packets for transmission over wirelesslinks. For example, the SW 12 may compress the header 58 by replacingthe original header 58 with a compressed header, as further describedwith respect to FIG. 4. Specifically, in certain embodiments, the SW 12may remove the Ethernet, IP, UDP/TCP, MPLS, VXLAN, GENEVE, or otherheader types from the data packet 14, and may replace the original typewith a compressed header having a flow ID, as described with respect toFIG. 4. In certain embodiments, the compressed header may additionallyor alternatively include a traffic class and/or a payload length.Specifically, compressing the header 58 may reduce the length 60 of theheader 58, thereby reducing the bandwidth needed to transmit the datapacket 14 across the shared interface 16.

In certain embodiments, once the header 58 is compressed, the SW 12 maytransmit the compressed header and the original payload 62 across theshared interface 16 to the co-processor 20. Further, once theco-processor 20 receives the data packet with the compressed header andthe original payload 62, the co-processor 20 may unpack the compressedheader to restore the original header 58.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the data flow between theSW 12 and the co-processor across the shared interface 16. In theillustrated embodiment, the transaction layer packets 80 are illustratedfor each data packet 14. As noted above, the transaction layer packets80 for each data packet 14 may include the header 58, the data payload62, and the ECRC 66. In particular, the SW 12 may compress the header 58based on a translation table 120 (e.g., look-up table 120).

Specifically, the translation table 120 may include information thatassociates a type of header 122 with a corresponding flow ID 124 and acorresponding compressed header type 126. In particular, in certainembodiments, the length 60 of the header 58 may be reduced from 3-4 DWwhen the header 58 is compressed to generate the compressed header 128.In certain embodiments, each type of header 122 may correspond to thesame flow ID 124, and may include fields that vary between consecutiveframes of the same flow. For example, the fields may include IPv4identification, flags and fragment offset, TCP segmentation sequencenumber, and others. In certain embodiments, the header 58 may store allthe fields of the original data packet 14, including various variablefields. Each SW 12 may send these variable fields within the compressedheader 128. For example, each compressed header 128 may include a headerID width, a length width, a CoS and color, and/or variable fields. Incertain embodiments, the translation table 120 may include additionalinformation that corresponds the header 58 with the compressed header128, such as traffic class information and/or payload lengthinformation.

Accordingly, the SW 12 may utilize the translation table 120 to convertor replace the header 58 of each data packet 14 with a correspondingcompressed header 128. In particular, the SW 12 may replace the header58 (e.g., H1, H2, H3, Hn, etc.) of each data packet 14 with thecompressed header 128 (e.g., CH1, CH2, CH3, CH4, CHn, etc.). In theillustrated embodiment, the SW 12 does not compress or otherwise alterthe data payload 62 or the ECRC 66 of the data packet 14. However, incertain embodiments, the SW 12 may compress the header 58 and the datapayload 62, as further described with respect to FIGS. 5 and 6.

Furthermore, in certain embodiments, the SW 12 may transmit the datapacket 14 with the compressed header 128 (and original data payload 62and ECRC 66) to the co-processor 20 via the shared interface 16. Itshould be noted that each of the one or more SWs 12 may compress theheader 58 of the data packet 14 to generate the compressed header 128,thereby reducing the bandwidth needed to transmit the accumulated datafrom the multiple SWs 12 across the shared interface 16.

In certain embodiments, the co-processor 20 may unpack the compressedheader 128 of the data packet 14 received from the shared interface 16.Specifically, the co-processor 20 may utilize the same translation table120 (e.g. look-up table) to unpack the compressed header 128 and restorethe original header 58. It should be noted that in certain embodiments,the co-processor 20 may compress the header 58 and generate thecompressed header 128, such that the SWs 12 receive and unpack thecompressed header 128 with the translation table 120. Accordingly, inthis manner, the system 10 may improve the efficiency of data transferover the shared interface 16 without affecting the quality or type ofdata transmitted.

FIG. 5 is a data flow diagram 180 illustrating data flows within thesystem 10, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.Specifically, in certain embodiments, the data flow diagram 100 includesa data packet 14 generated by and/or provided to the SW 12. In certainembodiments, the SW 12 may compress the header 58 and/or the datapayload 62 of the data packet 14, via one or more data compressiontechniques, as further described below. Further, the SW 12 may transmitthe compressed data packet 182 (with the compressed header and/orcompressed data payload) to the co-processor 20 via the shared interface16. In particular, each of the one or more SWs 12 may compress theheader 58 and/or the data payload 62 of each data packet 14 prior totransmitting the data packet 14 across the shared interface 16, therebyimproving the efficiency of data transfer over the shared interface 16.In certain embodiments, the co-processor 20 may unpack the compresseddata packet 182 to restore the original data packet 14.

In certain embodiments, the SW 12 may compress the header 58 and/or thedata payload 62 utilizing one or more different real time compressionalgorithms. For example, the compression algorithm may reduce the sizeof the data payload 62 (e.g., reduce the length 64 of the data payload62) without harming the data content. As a further example, thecompression algorithm may reduce the size of the data payload 62 (e.g.,reduce the length 64 of the data payload 62) and the header 58 (e.g.,reduce the length 60 of the header 58) without harming the data content.

In certain embodiments, compression level of the header 58 and/or thedata payload 62 may be dependent on the type of compression algorithmand the type of data structure (e.g., video, audio, text, jpeg, etc.).In certain compression algorithms may be utilized to compress the datapayload 62 to a fraction (e.g., 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, 40%, 30%, etc.)of the original size. For example, certain compression algorithms may beutilized to compress the data payload 62 of HTML (e.g., text) data toapproximately 50% of the original size. In certain embodiments, types ofcompression algorithms that may be utilized to compress the header 58and/or the data payload 62 may include LZ4 compression techniques, orany other type of compression techniques that may be utilized tocompress data packets. Specifically, compressing the header 58 and/orthe data payload 62 may reduce the length 60 of the header 58 and/or thelength 64 of the data payload 62, thereby reducing the bandwidth neededto transmit the data packet 14 across the shared interface 16.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the data flow between theSW 12 and the co-processor 20 across the shared interface 16. In theillustrated embodiment, the transaction layer packets 80 are illustratedfor each data packet 14. As noted above, the transaction layer packets80 for each data packet 14 may include the header 58, the data payload62, and the ECRC 66. In particular, the SW 12 may compress the header 58and/or the data payload 62 with a compression algorithm. As noted above,in certain embodiments, the compression algorithm may be a real-timelossless compression algorithm that compresses the header 58 and/or thedata payload 62.

Furthermore, in certain embodiments, the SW 12 may transmit thecompressed data packet 182 to the co-processor 20 via the sharedinterface 16. It should be noted that each of the one or more SWs 12 maycompress the header 58 and/or the data payload 62 of the data packet 14to generate the compressed data packet 182, thereby reducing thebandwidth needed to transmit the accumulated data from the multiple SWs12 across the shared interface 16.

In certain embodiments, the co-processor 20 may unpack the compresseddata packet 182 received from the shared interface 16. Specifically, theco-processor 20 may utilize the same compression algorithm to unpack thecompressed data packet 182 and restore the original data packet 14.Accordingly, in this manner, the system 10 may improve the efficiency ofdata transfer over the shared interface 16 without affecting the qualityor type of data transmitted.

The techniques presented and claimed herein are referenced and appliedto material objects and concrete examples of a practical nature thatdemonstrably improve the present technical field and, as such, are notabstract, intangible or purely theoretical. Further, if any claimsappended to the end of this specification contain one or more elementsdesignated as “means for [perform]ing [a function] . . . ” or “step for[perform]ing [a function] . . . ”, it is intended that such elements areto be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f). However, for any claimscontaining elements designated in any other manner, it is intended thatsuch elements are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f).

While the embodiments set forth in the present disclosure may besusceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specificembodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and havebeen described in detail herein. However, it should be understood thatthe disclosure is not intended to be limited to the particular formsdisclosed. The disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents,and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the disclosureas defined by the following appended claims.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A system, comprising: a processor comprising firstinput/output logic; a co-processor comprising second input/output logic;and a shared interface coupled to the processor via the firstinput/output logic and to the co-processor via the second input/outputlogic, wherein the processor compresses a data packet and transmits aninterface data packet to the co-processor at least in part by:compressing, using the first input/output logic, a first portion of thedata packet to produce a compressed portion of the interface datapacket; appending, using the first input/output logic, the compressedportion of the interface data packet to a second portion of the datapacket to form the interface data packet, wherein the second portion ofthe data packet is uncompressed and is complementary to the firstportion of the data packet; and transmitting, from the firstinput/output logic to the second input/output logic, the interface datapacket over the shared interface.
 22. The system of claim 21, whereinthe processor comprises a plurality of virtual machines, each virtualmachine configured to access the shared interface via the firstinput/output logic.
 23. The system of claim 21, wherein the sharedinterface comprises a first bandwidth that supports traffic ofuncompressed data packets between, at most, one software process and theco-processor, and wherein the compression and transmission of datapackets provides a second bandwidth between the processor and theco-processor that supports more than one software process.
 24. Thesystem of claim 21, wherein the first portion of the data packetconsists of a header portion of the data packet and the second portionof the data packet consists of a payload portion of the data packet. 25.The system of claim 24, wherein compressing the header portion of thedata packet comprises determining the compressed portion of theinterface data packet based on the header portion and a firsttranslation table of the first input/output logic.
 26. The system ofclaim 25, wherein the co-processor receives the interface data packet atleast in part by: receiving, using the second input/output logic, theinterface data packet; and decompressing, using the second input/outputlogic, the compressed portion of the interface data packet based on asecond translation table of the second input/output logic, wherein thesecond translation table is associated with the first translation tableof the first input/output logic.
 27. The system of claim 21, whereincompressing the first portion of the data packet comprises utilizing acompression algorithm in the first input/output logic.
 28. The system ofclaim 21, wherein the co-processor comprises a hardware accelerator. 29.The system of claim 21, wherein the shared interface comprises aPeripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) interface, an advancedmicrocontroller bus architecture (AMBA) interface, or both.
 30. Thesystem of claim 29, wherein the first input/output logic and the secondinput/output logic comprises protocol circuitry comprising instructionsassociated with a PCIe protocol, an AMBA protocol, or both.
 31. Thesystem of claim 21, wherein the co-processor compresses a second datapacket and transmits a second interface data packet to the processor atleast in part by: compressing, using the second input/output logic, athird portion of the second data packet to produce a second compressedportion of the second interface data packet; appending, using the secondinput/output logic, the second compressed portion of the secondinterface data packet to a fourth portion of the data packet to form thesecond interface data packet, wherein the fourth portion of the seconddata packet is uncompressed and is complementary to the third portion ofthe second data packet; and transmitting, from the first input/outputlogic to the second input/output logic, the second interface datapacket.
 32. A system, comprising: a processor comprising a firsttranslation table; a co-processor comprising a second translation tableassociated with the first translation table; and a shared interfacecoupled to the processor and to the co-processor, wherein the sharedinterface carries compressed data packets between the processor and theco-processor over the shared interface, wherein each compressed datapacket consists of a compressed header portion and an uncompressedpayload portion, and wherein the compressed header portion was encodedby the first translation table or the second translation table.
 33. Thesystem of claim 32, wherein the processor comprises an input/outputlogic coupled to the shared interface, wherein the input/output logiccomprises the first translation table.
 34. The system of claim 33,wherein the processor comprises a plurality of virtual machines thatinterfaces with the co-processor via the input/output logic.
 35. Thesystem of claim 32, wherein the co-processor comprises a user logic thatcomprises the second translation table.
 36. The system of claim 32,wherein the co-processor comprises a hardware accelerator.
 37. Thesystem of claim 32, wherein the shared interface comprises a PeripheralComponent Interconnect Express (PCIe) interface, an advancedmicrocontroller bus architecture (AMBA) interface, or both.
 38. Asystem, comprising: a processor comprising compression logic circuitryand running a plurality of virtual machines, wherein at least onevirtual machine comprises a first software process; a co-processorcomprising a hardware accelerator for the first software process; and aPeripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) interface, wherein theat least one virtual machine transmit data packets associated with thefirst software process at least in part by: generating, in the at leastone virtual machine, a PCIe packet associated with the first softwareprocess, wherein the PCIe packet consists of a PCIe header and a PCIepayload; compressing, in the compression logic, the PCIe header of thePCIe packet, to generate a compressed PCIe header; generate, in thecompression logic, a compressed packet that consists of the compressedPCIe header and the PCIe payload; and transmitting the compressed packetto the co-processor over the PCIe interface.
 39. The system of claim 38,wherein the compression logic comprises a compression translation tablefor compression of the PCIe header.
 40. The system of claim 39, whereinthe co-processor comprises decompression logic comprising adecompression translation table for decompression of the PCIe header,wherein the decompression translation table is associated with thecompression translation table.